Schools

ATLANTA – As the Georgia Lottery Corp. celebrates its 20th anniversary, lottery officials today announced record proceeds to education for the first half of fiscal year 2014. The Georgia Lottery’s first-half transfers to the Lottery for Education Account will bring the total raised for educational programs in the state to $15 billion since the lottery’s inception in 1993.

Georgia Lottery returns to education for the first half of fiscal year 2014 totaled $462.1 million, more than $11.6 million ahead of the same period last year.

“More dollars will go to fund educational programs in Georgia than ever before as a result of our strong start to the fiscal year,” said Georgia Lottery President and CEO Debbie D. Alford. “We are proud of our accomplishments and remain committed to maximizing revenues to benefit Georgia’s students.”

The first half of the fiscal year spanned from July 1, 2013, to December 31, 2013.

The promotion is designed to get parents thinking about saving for college while their children are still young.

Through the sweepstakes, one lucky child will be awarded $15,000 for his or her college education. The winner's school will receive $10,000.

"All you have to do is go online and enter for a chance to win," Path2College exeuctive director Mitch Seabaugh said. "There's nothing to lose by entering, and both a child and his or her school have a lot to gain."

To enter, visit path2college529.com. The sweepstakes is open to current Path2College 529 Plan account owners or non-account owners who live in Georgia and are at least 21 years old.

(WXIA) -- The Constitutional Officers Association of Georgia is offering three scholarships to Georgia's college students and high school seniors.

To qualify for the COAG Scholarship, a student must be a high school senior or GED candidate and a Georgia citizen, and should be scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2014.

Current students at accredited Georgia colleges and universities are also welcome to apply. The scholarship is available to students majoring in government or law enforcement; political science; accounting or finance; business; or pre-law.

COAG is offering scholarships in three amounts -- $500, $1,000 and $1,500. Applicants must write a 1,000-word essay that answers the question "Who are the locally elected constitutional officers and what differentiates them from other county offices?"

(WXIA) -- The public school graduation rate in Georgia continues to climb.

The Georgia Department of Education announced Wednesday that the state's graduation rate was 71.5 percent in 2013 -- almost two points higher than in 2012 and four points above 2011's rate.

Every state uses a U.S. Department of Education-mandated four-year adjusted cohort rate to calculate graduations. It tracks the number of students who graduate from high school within the standard four years.

State superintendent Dr. John Barge said the more rigorous calculation method still shows an increase in Georgia's graduation rate.

"Despite the economic challenges our districts are facing, we have more high school students graduating today than we have had in several years, which is a testament to the hard work of our students and teachers," Barge said in a statement.